History of Art and History (BA): 6-year, part-time

Birkbeck, University of London

Bachelor's degree

In London

Price on request

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Description

  • Type

    Bachelor's degree

  • Location

    London

  • Duration

    6 Years

Our fascination with the historical past, and the visual art it has bequeathed us, is richly evident in our thriving heritage sector and record numbers of visitors to museum and galleries.

This wide-ranging BA in History of Art and History will take you from the ancient world through to the present day exploring social, cultural, intellectual and political histories to develop your understanding of visual culture within these contexts. You will acquire the analytical skills and critical approaches that enable you to investigate texts, images and historical documents for yourself, and develop your competence in both visual perception and historical interpretation.

While some of our students have studied art history and/or history at school or have completed short courses, most have not studied these subjects in any depth prior to starting this course. The first-year modules are therefore intended to provide you with academic skills and a good grounding in the disciplines. As you progress through the course, you will have opportunities to explore different historical periods, themes and topics and different types of visual culture in more detail, from buildings to installations, sculpture to digital media, paintings to photography.

This course is also available for full-time evening study over three years and part-time evening study over four years.

Facilities

Location

Start date

London
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Malet Street, WC1E 7HX

Start date

On request

About this course

Our students develop the ability to think critically and creatively, and to articulate their ideas persuasively. Intellectual rigor, visual sensitivity and informed debate are fundamental to the discipline of history of art, as well as being transferable skills relevant to a range of careers. Graduates can pursue jobs in arts management, conservation and policy; in education, marketing and publishing; in the museums and heritage sectors; and in research and academia.

Jobs gained by some of our BA and MA graduates include:

Head of Learning, Design Museum
Curator, Schools Programmes, Tate Modern
Curatorial Assistant, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Curatorial Officer, National Army Museum
Head of Campaign Management, Science Museum
Curator, Handel House Museum
Head Curator, National Maritime Museum
Director, Foundling Museum
Curator, British Art 1850-1915, Tate Britain
Courses and Events Programmer, National Gallery.
We offer a comprehensive Careers Service to help you advance your career, while our in-house, professional recruitment consultancy, Birkbeck Talent, works with London’s top employers to help you gain work experience that fits in with your evening studies.

We welcome applicants without traditional entry qualifications, as we base decisions on our own assessment of qualifications, knowledge and previous work experience. We may waive formal entry requirements based on judgement of academic potential.

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Subjects

  • Archaeology
  • Greek
  • Interpretation
  • Politics
  • Art History
  • European History
  • Art design
  • Art
  • Global
  • Part Time
  • American History
  • Historiography

Course programme

COURSE STRUCTURE

The 12 modules required for this programme are structured as broad introductory modules in the first year, as more focused thematic and period-based modules in the second year, and as a range of specialised seminar modules in the final years, requiring increasing independence of thought as the degree progresses. You also complete a dissertation. You may take two modules in other disciplines as part of the programme, in consultation with your personal tutor.

In Year 1, you take three compulsory modules.

In Year 2, you take one compulsory module and choose two option modules from Level 5.

In Year 3, you choose two option modules at Level 6 (or one option module at Level 6 and an option module at Level 5 from Year 2). You also take the Level 5 Research Portfolio module.

In Year 4, you choose two option modules at Level 6 and complete your dissertation.

YEAR 1 COMPULSORY MODULES
  • Art History: A Survey
  • Doing Art History
  • Material and Process in Art
YEAR 2 COMPULSORY MODULE
  • Debates in Art History
YEAR 2 OPTION MODULES
  • Art and Society Between 1900 and the Present
  • Art and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
  • Art and Society in the Nineteenth Century
YEAR 3 COMPULSORY MODULE
  • Research Portfolio
YEARS 3 AND 4 OPTION MODULES
  • Art and Patronage in Papal Rome c. 1534-1590
  • Art and the Sacred in the Middle Ages
  • Art as Critique: Caricature, Modernity and the Avant-Garde
  • Art of the British Empire
  • Concrete and Flesh: Modern Architecture and the Body
  • Impressionist Paris: Modernity and Difference
  • Modernism in Scandinavian Art and Design
  • Photography Between Art and Document, 1839 to Now
  • Seventeenth-Century Painting in the Netherlands
  • Strategies of Display: Avant-Garde Exhibitions, The White Cube and Beyond
  • The Aesthetics of Politics: Picturing the Victorian State
BA HISTORY OF ART DISSERTATION
  • Dissertation
  • Option provision is reviewed each year; the list above gives an indication of the range of subjects offered.
Birkbeck makes all reasonable efforts to deliver educational services, modules and programmes of study as described on our website. In the event that there are material changes to our offering (for example, due to matters beyond our control), we will update applicant and student facing information as quickly as possible and offer alternatives to applicants, offer-holders and current students.

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History of Art and History (BA): 6-year, part-time

Price on request

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